The idea behind Motor Oil Coffee came from, well, almost motor oil itself!

Our co-founder Joe was sent to car shows across the country on behalf of a client – and no matter if it was Pebble Beach, Kissimmee, New York City, or hell, Stillwater in Upstate New York and it made no difference if a car sold for $1 million or $1,000, the guys each morning setting up the show would say the same joke while tasting their first sips of coffee.

“Haha, this tastes like motor oil.”

And this was not a new joke, but they would all laugh the same. Joe kept on hearing this and said, “you know this would be a great brand name for a coffee.” (In a past life, Joe co-owned a coffee shop, so was familiar with the business of java). Best of all: no one owned the mark.

Joe thought maybe, just maybe, he could tinker with a wholesale brand sold online. He spoke to his primary business partner Rich, who at first wasn’t sold but came around to the idea.

And before long, was born.